Samson: Data Not Creepy If It Leads To Relevant Messaging

So, people get freaked out when they feel an email marketer knows too much about them. Not necessarily.

At CheapAir.com, Greg Samson, the vice president of marketing, says: “We've
found that the most data-driven potentially scary messages that result from signals that we get from following people are the messages actually that are customers and our subscribers react the most
positively to.”

Speaking at the MediaPost Email Insider Summit, he said they appeciate the personalization since trips are so personal. (CheapAir competes in the online travel booking
space.)

“Yes, they're driven by data, but they seem to be coming from a person who has just reached out to this customer to help them,” Samson said on a Big Data panel.

CheapAir, he says, benefits from a two-way conversation with customers, who write back and explain why they may not be able to travel and provide other information that customer survey research
might not provide.

Used to discuss about maybe we should survey customers they write back to emails and tell us whats going on in life and why theyre not traveling huge info could never
get off of mass emails

“As these messges get more one-to-one and more personal, we kind of need to back that up with some real people and support," Samson said. "And connecting the
customer-service organization with the marketing organization becomes that much more important.”